How to Use Pinterest to Get More Traffic to Your Blog
By
Andreea Ayers
Pinterest, the third most popular social media network behind Facebook and Twitter, is a great way to get more traffic to your blog and to your website. If you’re wondering whether or not Pinterest makes sense for you and your business, it does! Whether you are a marketer, coach, service provider, local business or product manufacturer, anyone can build a following using the right steps.
Here’s My 5-Point Plan to Get the Most Out of Every Pin
Your effort to drive new readers to your blog using Pinterest actually doesn’t start on Pinterest. It starts with making your blog pin worthy. Your regular readers will be your first Pinterest followers, so your goal in the first two steps is to encourage them to share your content with their Pinterest friends.
Step 1:
Take advantage of Pinterest’s pin-it and follow me buttons. Add a follow me button to your e-newsletter, email signature and the about me page of your blog. Many content management systems, like WordPress offer plug-ins that automatically add social sharing buttons and counters to each post. If yours doesn’t, you can find the pin it button image on Pinterest’s support page. Just Google “pin it button” and it’s the very first result.
Step 2:
Evaluate your images. Thanks to Pinterest, the images you include in your blog posts are now just as important as the content of your writing. Instead of choosing the first clip art image you find, strive to post images that are bright, eye catching and emotionally evocative to encourage your readers to pin them.
Infographics are always popular on Pinterest, as are images that incorporate text. Create your own images using one of the many free and easy to use online image editors and use them to share one nugget of knowledge from each blog post with Pinterest.
Now that your blog is Pinterest ready, it’s time to actually start pinning.
Step 3:
Use keywords in every pin. Your keywords are essential to helping users find your blog, and the same principle applies to Pinterest. Use keywords in your titles, descriptions and comments to help users find you.
Step 4:
Never miss an opportunity to link back to your blog. Include a link in your profile description, and always link back to the blog post when you’re sharing its image.
Build pin boards that share your savvy and helpful how-tos, DIY tutorials and general knowledge in your field. For example, if you write a cooking blog, you could build a board about essential kitchenware or share your favorite recipe posts from your blog. The idea is to offer useful content that users want to pass on.
Step 5:
Become a contributing member of the community. Look for questions you can answer and conversations that engage you. Search keywords in your niche in the Pinterest search bar to find opportunities outside of your network. Perhaps a user that’s having trouble getting her new baby to sleep could learn from the blog post you wrote while going through the same thing.
When you share actionable information that users can benefit from, Pinterest users won’t be able to resist visiting your blog to learn more.
Andreea Ayers is the founder of LaunchGrowJoy.com, a business that coaches entrepreneurs and small business owners on how to grow their business via publicity, wholesale, marketing and social media. Andreea is also the creator of Profiting with Pinterest, an online course for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to use Pinterest to grow their business.
